Investigation of the restored joint for aluminum alloy

Abstract

In recent years, the mechanical clinching method plays an increasingly important role in the building of thin-walled structures. The clinched joint can be employed to join the lightweight materials. Compared with other joining methods, the clinched joint has better mechanical behavior. However, the clinched joint may be deformed during use when it bears a high shear force. In this research, a process to join aluminum alloy and restore deformed joint was proposed and investigated. The clinched joint was deformed in the deforming process. Then, a customized rivet and two flat restoring tools were utilized for restoring the deformed joint to join aluminum alloy. Different restoring forces such as 45, 40, 35, 30, 25, and 20 kN were employed to produce diverse restored joints. Some shearing tests on the restored joint were utilized for understanding joint material flow, mode of failure, thickness of neck, shear strength, and absorption of energy. The thickness of neck can be increased in restoring process, which contributes to improve the shear strength. The rivet embedded in a pit also helps restored joint bear shear force, so all of the restored joints have higher absorption of energy and shear strength than the clinched joints. The restoring process effectively restores the deformed joint to obtain better mechanical behavior.